Implicit Theories and Self-Perceptions of Traitedness Across Cultures

From the trait perspective, traitedness, or consistency of behavior, is expected in all cultures. However, cultural psychologists argue that behavior may be more determined by traits in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. The authors investigated implicit theories and self-perceptions of traitedness in two individualistic cultures, the United States ( n = 342) and Australia ( n = 172), and four collectivistic cultures, Mexico ( n = 400), Philippines ( n = 363), Malaysia ( n = 251), and Japan ( n = 192). Although implicit trait beliefs were endorsed in all cultural groups, they were stronger in individualistic than collectivistic cultures. Cultural differences in self-perceptions of one’s own traitedness, as operationalized by self-monitoring, were also found, and comparisons involving the United States and most collectivistic cultures were consistent with cultural psychology perspectives. The ability of self-construals to predict implicit beliefs and self-perceptions of traitedness was also investigated. Overall, the results supported efforts to integrate trait and cultural psychology perspectives.

A Review of Cross-Cultural Methodologies for Organizational Research: A Best- Practices Approach

Cross-cultural studies that use self-report instruments can present researchers with a variety of challenges. This article reviews the organizational research literature between the years of 1995 and 2001 to identify common practices prevalent in this type of research. Key methodological issues are examined within the context of a three-stage framework: (a) the development of the research question, (b) the alignment of the research contexts, and (c) the validation of the research instruments. This examination serves as a basis for the identification of best-practice recommendations for cross-cultural researchers.

Special Review Article: Culture in groups and teams: A review of three decades of research

This article reviews research on culture in groups and teams by analyzing 85 empirical studies published in the 15 leading management journals from 1980 to 2009. At first, we review the culture values used in the 85 articles. We next review how these culture values, as independent variables or dependent variables, were studied in each research topic. Then we review the methodological issues in the 85 articles. The review shows some advances but also many gaps in both theory and methods. Therefore, we highlight critical challenges for future research.

Production and people values: their impact on relationships and leader effectiveness in China

Productivity and people maintenance values have traditionally been considered to contribute to leader effectiveness but the dynamics by which they have their effects have not been clarified. This study proposes that cooperative and competitive goal interdependence mediates the relationship between these values and outcomes. Working in organizations in Shanghai, China, 103 managers indicated their productivity and people values and 206 employees indicated their goal interdependence, leader effectiveness, and their commitment. Structural equation analysis suggested that productivity and people maintenance values affect goal interdependence which in turn results in leader effectiveness and employee commitment. Findings refine the theorizing by suggesting that leader values reduce competitive and independent goals but may not themselves strengthen cooperative goals. Results also suggest that leader values may directly induce employee commitment. The study’s findings and previous research were interpreted as suggesting that productivity and people values coupled with cooperative goals provide a foundation for effective leadership.